While I'm glad to hear about this little girl's recovery through some amazing technology, I cannot imagine the medical bills that await this family after having a two year old child who has spent her entire life in intensive care.

xxmedium:While I'm glad to hear about this little girl's recovery through some amazing technology, I cannot imagine the medical bills that await this family after having a two year old child who has spent her entire life in intensive care.

It's sad that thought popped into my head almost immediately.

Unfortunately it's something that family will probably have to live with the rest of their lives. Even if their insurance covered it, the premiums for that kind of coverage are on the order of a mortgage payment, or more.

cman:Before all the Christian anti-science brigade gets here, let me point out the most important part of the article: HER OWN STEM CELLS SHE'S NOT GOING TO DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH ON INFANCY NOW.

FTFA: Her parents, Darryl and Young-mi Warren were told Hannah would not live past age six. "Hannah didn't have a chance. There was no hope. We were waiting for her to die essentially," said Darryl Warren.

Of course the zealots will say "So what? That how God wanted it" before visiting a chiropodist to have their divinely ordained ingrown toenails trimmed.

StrangeQ:xxmedium: While I'm glad to hear about this little girl's recovery through some amazing technology, I cannot imagine the medical bills that await this family after having a two year old child who has spent her entire life in intensive care.

It's sad that thought popped into my head almost immediately.

Unfortunately it's something that family will probably have to live with the rest of their lives. Even if their insurance covered it, the premiums for that kind of coverage are on the order of a mortgage payment, or more.

Nah, most reputable health insurance plans have a annual cap for max out of pocket (usually 5-6 thousand, obviously depending on plan). Some have a lifetime cap on spending, but that is usually absurdly high.

StrangeQ:xxmedium: While I'm glad to hear about this little girl's recovery through some amazing technology, I cannot imagine the medical bills that await this family after having a two year old child who has spent her entire life in intensive care.

It's sad that thought popped into my head almost immediately.

Unfortunately it's something that family will probably have to live with the rest of their lives. Even if their insurance covered it, the premiums for that kind of coverage are on the order of a mortgage payment, or more.

It is true that she may not be able to get covered later in life by an individual plan or the family might not either. It is part of the reason why we need some regulation in this industry. The premiums maybe sky high too (again, on an individual plan). Group plans work way different.

/I just went health insurance shopping.//I would rather pay higher taxes and have free healthcare. Least I feel like my money is going towards something useful instead of bombing brown people.

SirMadness:Lsherm: cman: Before all the Christian anti-science brigade gets here, let me point out the most important part of the article: HER OWN STEM CELLS

Before the liberals get here: her own.

Think on it a bit.

I'm sorry to derail the thread, but I'm just too confused to not ask and feel like an idiot...

Does somebody want to explain to me what is so @#$%ed up about the United States that LIBERALsimply means "I believe in taking the same freedoms away from people, but for different reasons?"

When did it become a swear-word in the states?

As a Canadian, I just know that when liberals are in charge, the country progresses and makes great strides, and when the conservatives are let in charge, it's essentially because rich old white people are pissed off, and the country goes broke and tries to destroy everything we've attempted to build up in this country. I just figured it was the same down there...what's up with nobody in America actually wanting to make PROGRESS? It's always about screwing the other side out of what they value most.

Do you consider farming fetuses for stem cells to be progress? Maybe we can make an industry out of it?

So a family friend had a baby who had a malformed stomach and liver. When he was 1 they cut out a huge section of his stomach and basically tube fed him and then by the time he was 2 they were able to reconstruct his stomach thanks to some bits they were able to grow in the lab because his parents decided to save his umbilical chord and placenta. They also directly injected some cells into or around the liver and it was able to repair its

DeathCipris:Nah, most reputable health insurance plans have a annual cap for max out of pocket (usually 5-6 thousand, obviously depending on plan). Some have a lifetime cap on spending, but that is usually absurdly high.

I'm sure their insurance decided this was a pre-existing condition. /dark look

KatjaMouse:they were able to reconstruct his stomach thanks to some bits they were able to grow in the lab because his parents decided to save his umbilical chord and placenta.

Stories like this and TFA make me wonder why we haven't cured cancer yet?

DeathCipris:StrangeQ: xxmedium: While I'm glad to hear about this little girl's recovery through some amazing technology, I cannot imagine the medical bills that await this family after having a two year old child who has spent her entire life in intensive care.

It's sad that thought popped into my head almost immediately.

Unfortunately it's something that family will probably have to live with the rest of their lives. Even if their insurance covered it, the premiums for that kind of coverage are on the order of a mortgage payment, or more.

It is true that she may not be able to get covered later in life by an individual plan or the family might not either.

This is a false statement.

It is part of the reason why we need some regulation in this industry. The premiums maybe sky high too (again, on an individual plan). Group plans work way different.

The personal health insurance industry is one of the most regulated in the United States.

/I just went health insurance shopping.//I would rather pay higher taxes and have free healthcare.

Fun fact: In the United States, we pay more per capita for government-funded health care than all but a small handful of countries despite only covering a minority of the population.

If embryonic is omg parkinsons and spinal column and everything else cure, why are there no positive results? Why is it treating NOTHING at all? And since it has no track record, why on earth do Democrats have such huge boners for it? 1) Because they know the morality of it angers their primary political foes and 2) because TV and internets and similarly uninformed cronies tell them its THE GREATEST THING EVER GUYZZZZ

Phineas:If embryonic is omg parkinsons and spinal column and everything else cure, why are there no positive results?

I'm one of the last people who would actually support embryonic stem cell harvesting, but I'm willing to bet at least part of the answer to your question is that it never went anywhere due to the lack of government funding?

Smoking GNU:I feel the article is incomplete as they leave out what kind of stem cells they used. young children have a lot of extra stem-cells that can be utilized for operations like this. Basal skin cells can be manipulated to turn into almost perfect stem cells. The stomach lining also has harvestable stem cells that can be used like this, although this is more difficult and can cause some complications in mature individuals.

Kirzania:Stories like this and TFA make me wonder why we haven't cured cancer yet?

It's a lot easier to grow a new thing than to selectively kill off only some things embedded in a big population; think of planting a garden vs. weeding it, especially when the weeds look a lot like the crops.

serial_crusher:I'm one of the last people who would actually support embryonic stem cell harvesting, but I'm willing to bet at least part of the answer to your question is that it never went anywhere due to the lack of government funding?

The regulatory hurdles are phenomenally high and stink to high hell of regulatory capture:

My best friend has duchenne muscular dystrophy and has had over a dozen stem cell treatment sessions over the last 3 years. Has to travel to a clinic in Panama which is owned by an American and staffed by American trained doctors.